Tack-feed-control mechanism for tack-fastened button-attaching machines



June 24, 1924.

A. H. COSGROVE TACK FEED CONTROL MECHANISM FOR TACK FASTENED BUTTON ATTACHING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet l Fil ed Feb. 15. 1923 June 24, 1924. A. H. COSGROVE TACK FEED CONTROL MECHANISM FOR TACK FASTENED BUTTON ATTA KCHING MACHINES Filed Feb. 15.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 III IIIII IL June 24, 1924- A. H. COSGROVE TACK FEED CONTROL MECHANISM FOR TACK FASTENED BUTTON ATTACHING MACHINES Filed Feb. 15. 1923 .3 Sheets-Sheet. 5

Patented June 24, 1924.

AUGUSTUS H. Cossaovn, or UNION HILL, ew JERSEY,

Mates 'ATsT' I ,AS'SIGNOEJ r0. s'oo'vitr.

MANUFACTURING COMPANY, or WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

TACa-rnnn-CoNTn-oL MECHANISM :coa Incline-ermine nUrroN-Ar'riiorime MACHINES.

Application filed February 15, 1923. Serial No. 619,195.

'lack-Feed-Cohtrol Mechanism 1- Tack Fastened Button-Attaching Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a tack-feed control mechanism for tack-fastened-button attaching machines of the type shown and described in the copending joint application of Frank E. lVarner and the undersigned Augustus H. Cosgrove, filed December 1, 1922, Serial No. 604,27 u I The particular object of the present invention is to provide a tack cutolfmechm nism for the tack raceway of such machines, and also a tack raceway clearing device for freeing the tack raceway of slugs, lint and foreign particles which would have a tend ency to clog the raceway and interfere with the feed of tacks and hence the proper operation of the machine. 1

The invention consists in a tack-feed control mechanism for tack-fastened-button attaching machines comprising a tack raceway to which tacks may be fed from a suitable hopper, such as that illustrated and described in the application above mentioned, this raceway being provided with a tack cutoff mechanism adapted to operate upon the tack heads rather than upon their shanks, which latter is the morecommon practice. This cutoff is so connected with its operating mechanism as to provide a limited amount of lost motion to accommonism should the cutoff by any chance become jammed in tack releasing position. r

The invention consists further in a coinbination and arrangement of parts for opening the tack raceway at its discharge end for the purpose of. freeingthe racew'ay'of slugs and the like, comprising a horizontally pivoted member adapted to be swung out of tack guiding relation to the tack raceway, and a tack detent associated with the tack raceway and actuated by movement of the movable member to prevent escape of tacks from the tack raceway when the movdate the movement of the operating mecha-' able member is moved out of tack guiding relation thereto,as I will proceed now to explain and finally claim. I I

In the accompanying drawings illustratingthe invention, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectionalf side elevation. showing the mechanism embodying my invention and various parts of the machine operatively associated therewith. F ig. 2 is aplan view, on a larger scale, of the parts of the machine embodying my invention. F 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional elevation looking at the opposite side of the machine from that illustrated in Fig. 1. F ig. dis a front elevation showing those parts of the machine illustrated in Fig. 2." 5 is a perspective View showing one side of the pivoted portion of the tack raceway, and the bearing screw and clutch spring for same, and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the oppositeside of the pivoted porti onof the tack raceway. Fig. 7 is a persp'ect-ive view, looking from above, of the base plate upon which the parts embodying the inventionare mounted. Fig. 8 is a bottom perspective view of the locking lever for the pivoted member. Fig. 9 is a perspective view ofthe tack pusher. I

Referring particularlyto Fig. 1, 1 indicates the bed of the machine upon which is mounted a frame 2 upon which are arranged the various parts of the machine comprising my invention. 3 is a button raceway provided with a button cutoff 1 operated by a lever 5 through a roller 6 carried by said lever and in contact with a cam '7 mounted.

upona cam shaft 8, the roller 6 being normally maintained in contact with the cam 7 by means of a spring 5. All of these pa'rts may be and: are here shown as substantially the same and operate in the same manner as those shown and described in the application above mentionedp 9 is a tack raceway which extends preferably at an angle downwardly to a point adjacent to the center line of a setting anvil 10 and setting plungerlO, Fig. 8. A continuation or guideway at right angles to the raceway 9 is formed by means of a fixed guide member 11 and a movable member 12, the latter having a bearing at 13 upon a bearing screw 14. Adjacent to the bearing 1 plate 18 is provided with a slabbed off or' 13 the movable member is recessed as at 15 (see Figs. 3 and 5) to form a pocket for a clutch spring 16 which provides sufficient clutching or frictional effect to maintain the movable member in raised or outswung position as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. The bearing screw 14- attaches the movable member 12 pivot-ally to a stand 17 which acts as a support for the lower end of the raceway 9, and for the movable member 12 and the tack cutolf hereinafter referred to. This stand is attached to a base plate 18 (Fig. 7), which in turn is fastened by screws 19 and 20 to the frame 2. The movable member 12 is held in raceway-forming or tack-guiding relation to the stationary guide member 11 by means of an undercut lug 21 which engages a similarly undercut portion or'lip 22 of the base plate 18, whereby possible upward tilting of the movable member vertically from the base plate is prevented, and by a locking lever 23 (see Fig. 8) pivoted at 24 to the base plate 18 and provided with a projection 25 adapted to enter a recess 26 in the side of the movable member. This lever is made preferably of spring metal and is adapted to be held in locked position by means of a tapered detent 27 which engages with a recess 28 in the base late. The locking lever is provided with a handle 29 by which it may be moved into and out of locking position, and the base chamfered portion 30 upon which the detent 27 may ride to snap into the recess 28.

In order to facilitate moving of the movable member 12 a handle 30 is provided.

Obviously, the guide member 11 and mov able member 12 form the sides or tracks of the guideway, the bottom thereof being formed by the base plate 18.

It will be seen that by this arrangement when a tack becomes jammed in the lower portion of the raceway or. a slug or foreign particle is encountered therein, the raceway may be cleared by swinging the lock ing lever to unlocked position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, and then, by grasp ing the handle 30, the movable member 12 of the raceway may be swung outwardly and upwardly about its pivot 1 1 to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, or as near thereto as is necessary to accomplish the desired purpose, thus completely removing one side or track of the guideway and moving it out of contact with the base plate 18 and out of such position as to form a possible obstruction to the fingers of the operator when removing slugs or the like, and the member .12 will be frictionally retained in such position by spring 16. With the pivoted member 12 in this latter position, it is necessary to provide means to prevent all the tacks in the raceway 9 from being discharged therefrom, and to this end I provide a tack detent 31 pivoted at 32 to the raceway 9 and provided with a tack intercepting finger 32 and a rider 33. The rider 33 rests upon a cam 3% formed as a part of the movable member 12, and the cam 3% so operates upon the rider that when the movable member 12 is in the position shown in full lines in l, the finger 32 will be raised free of the path of the tacks in the raceway 9, but when the movable member is in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, the fir Q er 32 will drop to tack intercepting posi ion with respect to the raceway 9, thus permitting free movement of tacks down the raceway when the movable member 12 is in tack guiding position, ment of the tacks in the raceway 9 when the movable member is swung out of tack guiding position.

7 In machines of this type, it is necessary to successively feed tacks singly from the tack raceway to the setting anvil and this is usually accomplished by means of a tack cutoff which lies flat upon the face of the raceway and has pivotal movement about an axis at right angles to the face of said raceway, this cutoff adapted to be oscillated to discharge tacks one at a time to a point where they are picked up and advanced to the setting anvil by means of er. Cutoffs of this character operate upon the shanks of the tacks and, though it seldom. occurs, are apt to tilt the tacks so as to cause jamming of the same in the raceway. I have provided the usual type of tack pusher 35 (see Fig. 9), but have devised a new form of tack cutoff 36, which is pivoted in the stand 17 upon a bearing screw 37 and oscillates upon its pivot in a plane transverse to the discharge end of the tack raceway 9. This cutofi has a lip 38 (see Fig. 3) which is adapted to intercept the tacks as they drop against the face 39 of the movable member 12, by engagement with their heads rather than with their shanks, and this lip is connected with an arcuate slot 40 which allows the heads of the tacks to escape when the cutoff is moved to tack releasing position. A stop portion ll is provided which, whenthe cutoff is moved to tack releasing position, willcover and hence close the discharge end of the raceway 9 to prevent the discharge of tacks following the one being fed to the anvil. The tack cutoff isoscillated by means of a lever 42 clamped and keyed. to a stud shaft 4:3 carried by and oscillated with the lever 5 and having a link 44 provided with a pin 45 which operates in a slot 46 in the tack cutoff. The actuation'of lever 42 to raise link ll will move the cutoff to tack releasing position, and upon the reverse actuation of the lever 42 the cutofi will be'returned to tack intercepting position by means of a spring and intercepting and preventing movea tack push-' tre ts 47 having one of its ends. connected to an the setting mechanism, the tack cutoff will be simultaneously perated through the mechanism ustdescribed to permitt-he feed of a tack to the setting mechanism.

As the tacks slide down the raceway and successively enter the slot d0 of, the cutoff they willbe correctly positioned with re= spect to the guideway formed by guide 11 and member 12 by striking against the upturned portion of member 12, which acts as an abutment.

Aspreviously stated, slugs and foreign particles often. get into the tack raceway, and if such a slug or particle were to cause such jamming of the tackcutoff when once it was moved to tack releasing position that the spring 47 would not be strong enough to return it to tack discharge interrupting position, damage to the the tack cutoff has been moved to tack re leasing position and becomes-jammed in that position, further reciprocation of the lever 42 and link a4 will merely cause the pin 45 to ride up and down in: the slot 4&6.

I provide against injury-to the machine due to possible jamming of either the tack or button cutoff during the feeding operation of same, by the arrangementof the cam and lever mechanism 5, 6, 7,42, 43 which allows the cam to continue in its rotation without operating the lever 5 for the reason that when either cutoff is jammed the lever 5 will be held in such position that the roller 6 is out of contactwith the cam 7 until its high portion advances.

The tack pusher 35 is operated by means of a link 49 connected with a sliding frame 50 which carries a. roller 51 hearing against a cam 2 mounted on the cam shaft 8, the frame 50 and with it the link 4-9 and pusher 35 being moved outwardly by the cam 52 and inwardly by means of a pair of springs 53, these springs being connected at one end with an extension 5% of the frame 50 and at their other ends with a stationary part of the machine. These parts are-the same as shown and described in the application hereinabove referred to.

It will thus be seen that I provide a tack cutoff which is designed to be as near as possible non-jamming, and associate with this cutofi means whereby the tack raceway may mechanism would probably result if operation of the machlne.

member be cleared in case a slug or other for ign particle is encountered or in case of jamming, thereby preventing, as nearly as is:

practicable, interruptions in the service of" the machine, and making possible the easy clearing of the machine and its prompt re turn to service in ca'se'it is temporarily dis-' abled through jamming or fouling. of the tack feed.

Although have hereinshown andfdescribed a particular embodiment of my invention, I do, not consider 1t as lnnlted thereto except as herelnaftertpointed out in' the claims.

What I claim is:

.Lln a tack feed control mechanism for" tack fastened button attaching machines,

a base plate, a tackracewayextending at an angle thereto and having a discharge end, a

stationary guide member associated there'- with and with said base plate and forming a continuation of said raceway and a movable member complemental to, said station} ary guide and forming a guideway with way and adaptedto be moved out of tacky guiding relation to the discharge end of said raceway and outof proxnnlty to said base,

plate, for the purposespecified. V

2. In a tack forming adapted to be held in tack guiding relation with respect thereto and movable out of such tack guiding relat1on,and a tack detent operatively associated ,with saidbraceway and adapted when said movable member is moved out of tack guidingrelation to close said raceway against the-, escape of tacks therefrom but held normally out of such raceway closing position. I i v 3. In a tack feed control mechanism for tack fastened button attaching machines, a tack raceway having adischarge end, a m0v-' able guide member pivotedadjacent to the;

discharge end of said, raceway and provided with-acam'surface, a tack detent pivotedon 'SLlCl raceway andhaving a finger adapted to reed control mechanismfor; tack fastened button. attaching. machines, a tack raceway having-a discharge end, a stfationary guide cooperating therewith f and an extension thereof, a. m vable complemental to said guide and therefrom to said anvil when in normal poand means associated with said base plate and forming therewith a'guideway between said tack raceway and anvil and including a movable member located adjacent to the discharge end of said raceway and extending sition, said movable member adapted to be moved about an axis arranged at right angles to 'said raceway whereby it is shifted out of tack guiding relation with respect to said raceway and clear of said base plate to thereby interrupt its tack guiding function between said raceway and anvil and permit unobstructed access to said guideway.

5. In a tack feed control mechanism for tack fastened button attaching machines, a base plate, a tack raceway having a discharge end, a setting anvil, a pair of guides associated with said base plate and extending from the discharge end 'ofsaid raceway to said anvil to form a guideway, one of said guides being pivoted upon an axis at right angles to said raceway and adjacent to the discharge end thereof and capable of being swung u on its pivot out of contact with said base p ate and out of tack guiding relation with respect to said anvil, and means for locking said pivoted guide member in tack guiding rela tion. a

'6. In a tack feed control mechanism for tack fastened button attaching machines, a stand, a tack raceway having a discharge end supported by said stand, a stationary guide member located adjacent to andv forming a continuation of said raceway, a movable member complemental to said stationary guidemember and when in normal position forming with said guide member a tack guideway, a bearin member extending through said movable member and pivotally attaching the same to said stand, and a friction clutch interposed between said stand and said movable member whereby when said movable member is pivotally adjusted it will be maintained in adjusted position by said friction clutch member. I

7 In a tack feed control mechanism for tack fastened button attaching machines, a frame, a base plate mounted thereon, a stand rising from said base plate, a tack raceway having a discharge end supported by said stand, a stationary guide member located adjacent to and forming a continuation of said raceway, a movable member complemental to said stationary guide member and when in normal position forming with said guide member a tack guideway, said movable member being pivoted upon said stand, and means for locking said movable member in normal tack guiding position with respect to said stationary guide including a lug on said movable member and a complemental lip on said base plate whereby vertical movement between said movable member and base plate is prevented, and a locking lever pivoted on said base plate and having an extension engaging theside of said movable member and a detent engaging said base plate whereby movement of said movable member about its pivot is prevented.

8. In a tack feed control mechanism for tack fastened button attaching machines, a

tack raceway having a discharge end, a movable guide member arranged adjacent to the V discharge end ofv the raceway and forming an abutment for the. tacks descending the raceway, a tack cutoff arranged between said discharge end and abutment arranged for pivotal action transversely with respect to said discharge end and adapted to operate upon the tacks successively as they strike against said abutment, and means for imparting oscillation to said cutoff.

9. Ina tack feed control mechanism for tack fastened button attaching machines, a tack raceway having a discharge end, a movable guide member arranged adjacent to the discharge end of the raceway and forming an abutment for the tacks descending the raceway, a tack cutoff arranged between said discharge end and abutment arranged for pivotal action transversely with respect to said discharge end and adapted to operate upon the tacks successively as they strike against said abutment, means including a link and lever connection for imparting oscillation to said cutoff, and a lost motion connection between said link and said cutoff whereby said link may 'be'moved independently of said cutoft as specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 8th day of February, A. D.

AUGUSTUS H. COSGROVE. Witness:

M. Guru. 

